Vestibule-curtain mounting.



E. E. WHITMDRE. VESTIBULE CURTAIN MOUNTING.

APPLICATION lILED AUG.7, 1913.

1,077,660, Patented Nov. 4, 1913.

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VESTIBULE CURTAIN MOUNTING.

APPLICATION FILED AUG. 7, 1913.

Patented Nov. 4, 1913.

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EDWARD E. WHITMORE, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOR TO THE CURTAIN SUPPLY COMPANY, OF NEWARK, NEW JERSEY, A CORPORATION OF NEW JERSEY.

VESTIIBULE-CURTAIN MOUNTING.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Nov; 4; 1913.

Application filed August 7, 1913. Serial No. 783,518.

In the accompanying drawings and in the To all whom, it may concern.

Be it known that I, EDWARD E. VVHIT- MORE, a citizen of the United States, residing at Chicago, in the county of Cook and State to the bolster plate of the next car wherebv the interior of the accordion plaited diaphragm is covered and a smooth and pleasing interior finish is given to the passageway between two coupled cars. The curtain is usually mounted upon a spring roller so that when detached from one car it will be automatically wound upon its roller and the roller will also take up any slack between the cars and maintain the curtain taut.

It has been proposed to protect the roller and improve the sightliness of the vestibule equipment by mounting the roller within a casing providing access thereto for purposes of inspection, adjustment and repair, but such mounting has been cumbersome, complicated and costly to install and maintain.

The object of this invention is to simplify and cheapen, while at the same time increasing the efiiciency of the entire device for the purposes intended. This object is attained by constructing the housing of the curtain roller as a casing separate and apart from the car itself and capable of ready attachment to the vestibule post or column, the easing itself comprising a sheet metal body bent to proper shape and having its ends closed by castheads or plates carrying the bearings for the two trunnions of the roller and having integral bracket members for attachment to the car. Access to the interior of the casing is provided by a door likewise of sheet metal and hinged along one edge to swing into open and closed position. The

description based thereon is set forth a. preferred embodiment of the invention. As, however, the invention is capable of embodi ment in other and varied structural forms the drawing and description are to be construed in an illustrative and not in an unnecessarily limiting sense. i

In, the drawing Figure 1 is a vertical section through a .car vestibule showing the vestibule curtain and its mounting in side elevation; Fig. 2 is a horizontal section on the line 22 of Fig. 1; Fig. 3 is a side elevation of the curtain mounting on an enlarged scale; Fig. 4: is a vertical section through the curtain mounting on the line H of Fig.

- 6; Fig. 5 is a horizontal section through they curtain and its mounting; and Fig. 6 is a top plan view of the curtain mounting.

In the drawings the reference numeral 11 designates the roller to which is secured in any suitable manner one edge of the curtain 12, the other edge being provided with a suitable marginalreinforcement or bead 13' and provided with a handle 14 adapted to be hooked over the catch 15 carried by the face plate 16 of the vestibule post 17 of the car when the curtain is in its extended position as illustrated whereby the curtain 12 extends along the inside of the diaphragms 18, i8 and forms a guard orinterior finish therefor.

The curtain roller is provided at one end with a round trunnion 19 adapted to seat as a foot step bearing within a correspondingly shaped recess in a boss 20 of the casting 21 which is provided with an integral bracket member 22 adapted to be secured by the bolts or rivets 23 to the plate 24 carried by the vestibule post 2?:- of the car. At its opposite end the roller 11 is provided with a trunnion 26 angular in cross section and.

by means of the set screw 30. The bracket 7 member 29 is formed integrally with and depends from a casting 31 which is provided with an integral extension 32 'forming a bracket for attachment by means of the rivets or bolts 33 with the plate 24. The casting 21 is provided with an upstanding marginal flange 34 and the casting 31 with a depending marginal flange 35 which.

flanges enter within and form a support for engagementwith the lower and upper ends respectively of a sheet metal casing 36 which is substantially semicylindrical being bent to conform to the contour of the flanged castings 21 and 31, which latter form heads for the casing. The two edges of the casing 86 are suitably beaded at 37 and 38 to provide a finished edge, the head 38 being cut awayat intervals in order to complement in the formation of a hinge joint a similarly cut away head 39 of a sheet metal door 40, with which cutaway portions a rod. 41 cooperates as a pintle. The opposite edge of the door 40 is provided with a finishing bead 42, the width of the door 40 being such that a slight space L3 is left between the beaded edges 37 and 4-2 for the passage of the curtain 12, as clearly shown in Fig. The upper portion of the door is provided with a keeper 44 with which is adapted to engage the lower beveled end of a catch 45 acted upon by the spring 46 and retractable by means of a handle 47.

The cast head 31 is preferably imperforate and forms a tight cover for the easing or housing while the cast head 21 is provided with a series of apertures 48 through which will be discharged dust, cinders, or other foreign matter which would otherwise collect Within the housing.

The length of the casing 36 and of the door 40 will be chosen to accord with the length of the curtain roller to be mounted and the said casing having been positioned about the flange 34 of the'cast head 21 the flange 35 of the head 31 will he slipped within the upper end of the casing and the bracket attached to the car at a proper height to effectually close and securely hold in position the casing 36 with its hinged door 40. The round trunnion 1.9 of the roller 11 will then be dropped into its seat within the boss 20 and the bracket 27 placed with its opening over the angular trunnion 26 of the roller, the bracket 27 being positioned at a height to hold the trunnion in place and yet not to bind will be secured in adjusted position to the bracket member 29 by means of the set screw 30 when the installation will be complete. The curtain 12 has free play within the space 43 and will be unwound from or wound upon the roller 11 according as its outer edge is drawn away from 01' permitted to approach the mounting of its roller. Ready access is aiforded to the roller for installation, adjustment or removal by lifting the catch 45 and swinging the door 40 upon its hinges.

The device represents a minimum cost of production and a maximum of eiiiciency for the purposes required, the parts being inter changeable and the device as a whole being capable of being quickly installed in any type of car without alterations in the car structure proper I claim:

1. In a device of the character described, a vertical housing comprising an elongated headed casing and open on one side, upper and lower bearings for the roller trunnions and a door hinged at one side of and adapted to close the opening, substantially as described.

2. In a device of the character described, a vertical housing comprising an elongated headed casing and open on one side, upper and lower bearings for the roller'tru nnions, a door hinged at one side of and adapted to close the opening, and a spring catch for the door, substantially as described.

3. In a device of the character described, an upright housing comprising an elongated sheet metal casing having separate top and bottom heads and open on one side, hearings for the roller trunnions within the casing and a door hinged to one side of and adapted to close the opening, substantially as described. V

4. In a device of the character described, an upright housing comprising a. seinicylindrical sheet metal casing having cast top and bottom heads, hearings on the headsfor the roller trunnions and a door hinged at one side of and adapted to close the open side of the casing, substantially as described.

5. In a device of the character described, a housing comprising an elongated sheetmetal casing having separate top and bottom cast heads and open on one side, and a door hinged to one side ofand adapted to close the opening, a fixed bearing for one trunnion of the roller and an adjustable bearing for the other trunnion of the roller, substantially as described.

6. In a device of the character described, a housing comprising a semicylindrical sheet metal casing having cast top and bottom heads, a door hinged at one side of and adapted to close the open side of the casing, a fixed foot step bearing upon the lower head for one trunnion of the roller, and an adjustable bracket on the upper head for the other trunnion of the roller, substantially as described.

7. Ina device of the character described, a housing comprising a seinicylindrical sheet metal casing having cast top and bottom heads, a door hinged at one side of and adapted to close the open side of the casing, a fixed foot step bearing on the bottom head for the" round trunnion of the roller, and a vertically adjustable bracket on the upper head for the angular trunnion of the roller, substantially as described.

8. In a device of the character described, a housing comprising an elongated sheet metal casing having separate top and bottom cast heads and open on one side, a door metal casing having cast top and bottom 7 the opening, a fixed foot ste bearing formed on the lower cast head, a xed member depending from the upper east head, a second member slidable vertically on the fixed member and having an angular opening to accommodate the angular trunnion of the roller, and a clamping device connectin the two members, substantially as describe 9. In a device of the character described, a housing comprising a semicylindrical sheet heads, a door hinged at one side of and adapted to close the open side of the casing, the upper head substantially imperforate, and the lower head perforated to permit the escape from the housing of foreign matter, substantially as described.

10. In a device of the character described, a housing comprising a semicylindrical sheet metal casing having cast top and bottom heads, a door hinged at one side of and adapted to close the open side of the casing, a fixed foot step bearing on the bottom head for the round trunnion bf the roller, a vertically adjustable bracket on the upper head for the angular trunnion of the roller, and a spring catch for retaining the door in closed position, substantially as described.

11. In a device of the character described, a housing comprising an elongated casing having top and bottom heads and open on one side, and a door hinged to one side of and adapted to close the opening, a fixed bearing for one trunnion of the roller and an adjustable bearing for the other trunnion of the roller, substantially as described.

12. In a device of the character described, a housing comprising a semi-cylindrical metal casing having top and bottom heads,

a door hinged at one side of and ads. ted

to close the open side of the casing, :1 ed foot-step bearing in the lower part of the casing for one trunnion of the roller, and a vertically adjustable bracket in the up er part over the other trunnion of the ro er, substantially as described.

13. In a device of the character described, a housing 1 com rising a semicylindrical metal casing havlng top and bottom heads, a door hinged at one side of and adapted to, close the open side of the casing, a fixed foot step bearing be round trunnlon of the roller, 9. vertically adjustable bracket on the upper'head for the angular trunnion of the roller, and a spring catch for retaining the door 1n closed position, substantiallly as described.

In testimony whereof have hereunto signed my name in the; presence of two subscribing witnesses.

EDWARD. E. WHITMORE.

Witnesses:

"G. E. PROUDFOOT, A. J. MOELLER.

on the' bottom head for 

